Means to releasably mount screens in the opposite end portions of tubular dehydrators



June 26. 1956 A. l.. sEMoN 2,751,999

MEANS To RELEASABLY MOUNT SCREENS 1N THE OPPOSITE END PoETroNs oE TUBULAR DEHYDRATORS Filed April 1, 1952 QQ INVENTOR. L. Samoa vwl/M HTTRNE'Y.

United States Patent() MEANS TO RELEASABLY MOUNT SCREENS IN THE OPPOSITE END PORTIONS OF TUBULAR DEHYDRATORS Albert L. Semon, Short Hills, N. J.

Application April 1, 1952, Serial No. 279,750

3 Claims. (Cl. 1834.8)

This invention relates to dehydrators or filters principally adapted for use in the air circulating systems of aeroplanes to remove moisture from the air in said aeroplanes.

It is the principal object of the invention to provide removable screens at the opposite end portions of a tubular body containing dehydrating or ltering means whereby the screens are readily removed from the tubular body for replacement of the used or saturated dehydrating or liltering means in the tubular body.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter.

In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this application, Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view of the dehydrator or filter.

Figure 2 is an end view of the dehydrator or filter with a cap member removed and showing an expansion ring in normal expanded condition and retaining the screen in the tubular body.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the expansion ring in compressed or contracted condition to permit removal of the screen from the tubular body.

The embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawing comprises a tubular body 4 of transparent material, such as glass or plastic material, having sere" -threads on the outer face at the opposite end portions for the removable mounting of a pair of perforated cap members 5 having an internally screw-threaded boss 6 at the perforation for connecting the tubular body in the pipe-line of the air circulating system, not shown.

Dehydrating or filtering means, such as crystals, which are adapted to change color when fully saturated with moisture or other substances being absorbed by said crystals, are placed in the tubular body between the cap members 5, as indicated at 7 in Figure 1, and said color of the crystals being readily observed through the tubular body 4.

To prevent the crystals from passing through the outlet boss 6 into the pipe-line Without interrupting the flow of air past the crystals in the tubular body 4 and through the pipe-line, there are provided circular screens 8 of wire-mesh in the end portions of the tubular body 4 spaced inwardly from the cap members 5. It is the principal object of the invention to removably mount said screens in the tubular body 4 whereby the tubular body is supplied with the crystals 7 and saturated crystals are replaced by fresh crystals without diiculty and in the shortest possible time. This is accomplished by mounting each screen S in the opening in a rigid ring 9 by clamping the circumferential edge portion of the screen in an annular groove 10 in the inner face of the ring 9 adjacent the inner end of said ring by a snap-ring 11, as shown in Figure 1. Each rigid ring 9 is engaged in an enlarged end portion 12 of the tubular body 4 whereby the outer end of the rigid ring is ush with the end of the tubular body. The shoulders formed by the reduced end portions 12 and the interior face of the body 4 are rounded, as shown at 19 in Figure 1, to form even seats ice 2 for the rings 9 regardless whether the thickness of the body 4 varies. It has been found that the thickness of the body 4 varies 1/32 of an inch. Each ring 9 is releasably retained in said end portion 12 by an expansion ring 13 of spring metal having the opposite end portions extended inwardly toward the center of the ring to form fingermanipulating portions 14. Each expansion ring 13 is mounted in a groove 15 in the outer face of the rigid ring 9 adjacent the outer end of said ring with the groove of greater depth than the cross sectional dimension of the expansion ring 13, as shown in Figure 1, to permit contraction or compression of the expansion ring 13. The expansion ring is contracted or compressed into the bottom portion of the groove 15 by moving the manipulating end portions 14 toward each other, as shown in Figure 3. ln the normal expanded condition of the expansion rings 13, the outer peripheries of said expansion rings 13 will extend beyond the outer faces of the rigid rings 9, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, to engage in an annular groove 16 in each of the enlarged end portions 12 of the tubular body 4, whereby the rigid rings 9 are retained in said enlarged end portions 12. ln assembling and removing the screens 8, the manipulating end portions 14 are held together, as shown in Figure 3, by ngers extended through the adjacent open end of the tubular body 4 and when the rigid rings 9 are fully engaged in the enlarged end portions 12, the end portions 14 are released to assume their normal position shown in Figure 2, with the expansion rings 13 in the grooves 16. The screens 8 are assembled and removed when the cap members 5 are removed from the tubular body 4.

To facilitate assembling the expansion rings 13 in the grooves 15 and the manipulation of the end portions 14, the outer end of each rigid ring 9 is provided with a recess 17 tapering from each groove 15 to the opening in the rigid ring 9. The manipulating end portions 14 are extended through said recess 17, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

To assure a fluid-tight seal between the cap members 5 and tubular body 4, a gasket 18 is engaged between the closed end of each cap member 5 and an end of the tubular body 4, as shown in Figure l.

The cross-sectional shape of the expansion rings 13 may be elliptical instead of circular as shown in the drawing.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. In a dehydrator or filter, a tubular body having an internal shoulder spaced inwardly from each end of the body, a pair of rigid rings, each rigid ring having one end seated on a shoulder of the tubular body and having a screen extending transversely of the opening in said rigid ring adjacent the end of the ring seated on the shoulder, and an expansion ring carried on the outer face of each rigid ring adjacent the end opposite the end seated on the shoulder to impinge the inner face of the tubular body and releasably retain the rigid ring against the shoulder of the tubular body and said expansion ring having opposite end portions extended inwardly toward the centers of the rigid ring and expansion ring to facilitate disengagement of the expansion ring from the tubular body and removal of the rigid ring from the tubular body by lingers extended into the open end of the tubular body.

2. A dehydrator or filter as claimed in claim l, wherein the shoulders are spaced from the ends of the tubular body a distance equal to the thickness of the rigid rings and said shoulders are rounded to form even seats for the rigid rings regardless whether the thickness of the tubular body varies.

3. In a dehydrator or filter as claimed in claim 1, an annular groove in the inner face of the tubular body between each end and eaoh shoulder to reciv the'expan- 1,612,526 Mueller Dec. 29, 1926 sion ringsntheir expanded condition. 1,734,236 Smith et a1. Nov. 5, 1929 1,867,296 Woodruff July 12, 1932 References Cited 1n the le of thls pateot K 2,010,708 Adams Aug. 6 1935 I f Y UNTTED STATES PATENTS 5 2,076,304 strindberg Apr. 6, 1937 1,016,620 Gapp Feb.'6, v1912 2,593,132 Gannon Apr. 15, 1952 1,520,654 Johnson Dec. 23, 1924 2,686,596 Storms Aug. 17, 1954 

